School Expulsion Upheld for Breaking into School District Computer System

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania upheld the suspension of a student who gained unauthorized access to the school district computer system and supplied information to another student who used the information to access and disrupt the system.

The expulsion was upheld despite the fact that the Computer Use Policy only provided for a possible suspension of one to ten days for violation of the policy.

The Court held that the School Board had discretion as to appropriate penalties in disciplinary proceedings and properly exercised its discretion to expel Student. While the Computer Use Policy suggested penalties up to a 10-day suspension, it also indicated in the Appendix that such a punishment was only to act as a guide, and an individual case could warrant the modification of the listed penalties.

The Court noted that previously, the student had committed a serious and potentially damaging violation of the School District’s Computer Use Policy when he made false student identification cards, and this time he committed a more serious violation of the School District’s Computer Use Policy by decoding encrypted information and helping another student access extremely sensitive and private School District information. Given his history, including a prior suspension for computer misconduct, and given that his conduct is felonious under the Crimes Code, the Court found that the expulsion was entirely appropriate.

Decision: M.T. for A.T. v. Central York School District [PDF]

Supreme Court Holds that Parents Can Pursue IDEA Claims in Federal Court

The United States Supreme Court has held that parents seeking to enforce rights granted to their children under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) have independent, enforceable rights, which are not limited to procedural and reimbursement-related matters but encompass the entitlement to a free appropriate public education for their child and that these right may be enforced by the parents in the federal courts on their own behalf without the assistance of legal counsel.

In Winkelman v. Parma City School District, decided May 21, 2007, the Court reversed the order of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissing the Winkelmans’ appeal unless they obtained counsel to represent their son, Jacob.

The Sixth Circuit relied on Cavanaugh v. Cardinal Local School Dist., 409 F. 3d 753 (2005), where the Court of Appeals had rejected the proposition that IDEA allows nonlawyer parents raising IDEA claims to proceed pro se in federal court. The court ruled that the right to a free appropriate public education “belongs to the child alone,” 409 F. 3d, at 757, not to both the parents and the child. It followed, the court held, that “any right on which the [parents] could proceed on their own behalf would be derivative” of the child’s right, ibid., so that parents bringing IDEA claims were not appearing on their own behalf.

The Supreme Court reversed, concluding that IDEA grants parents independent, enforceable rights. These rights, which are not limited to certain procedural and reimbursement-related matters, encompass the entitlement to a free appropriate public education for the parents’ child.

The Court stated that the Court of Appeals erred when it dismissed the Winkelmans’ appeal for lack of counsel. Parents enjoy rights under IDEA; and they are, as a result, entitled to prosecute IDEA claims on their own behalf.

View the Decision (Legal Information Institute - Cornell Law School)